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Article: The Challenges Of Terrorism - Iraq, Part 49 - GME Arms Smuggling & Biden Visit.
- Article from:
- APS Diplomat Strategic Balance in the Middle East
- Article date:
- September 21, 2009
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US Vice-President Joseph Biden visited Iraq on Sept. 15-17 and met with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad as well as the heads of Kurdistan in the north. Among other things, he heard a complaint from the top US commander in Iraq, Army Lt-Gen Raymond Odierno, that the Obama administration's focus on the AfPak front was affecting the country of which he was in charge. He told the VP the Iran-led axis of anti-US and anti-Israel forces in the Greater Middle East (GME) was using Iraq for the smuggling of weapons and drugs across the whole region.
An APS source in Baghdad on Sept. 19 said Gen Odierno warned Biden that the 130,000 US troops in Iraq were in potential danger. He ...